Daily News Update

Coal heating must be consigned to the “dustbin of history” if Scotland is to hit its ambitious climate change targets

That’s the verdict from industry body Scottish Renewables, which says the 14,000 homes across the country still heated primarily by coal must switch to cleaner, modern alternatives such as heat pumps, solar thermal panels and even biomass boilers.

It argues emissions from solid fuel contribute to health problems such as strokes, heart disease and lung cancer, as well as accelerating climate change through the carbon dioxide produced.

The organisation says a home heated by coal emits up to five times more carbon than one heated using a modern heat pump.

It advises a further 186,000 homes which use oil or bottled gas should also consider switching to low carbon heating solutions and calls for the government to use its Energy Efficient Scotland programme to tackle the issue of fossil fuel heating once it launches in 2020.

Fabrice Leveque, Senior Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “It’s incredible that in 2018 14,000 Scottish homes still rely on coal as their main source of heating.